Madame Auguste Manet
painter
Édouard Manet
(French, 1832 - 1883)
subject
Eugénie-Désirée Fournier Manet
(French, 1811 - 1885)
Dateabout 1866
Place MadeFrance, Europe
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions98 x 80 cm (38 9/16 x 31 1/2 in.)
ClassificationsPaintings
Credit LineIsabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston
Accession numberP3s4
eMuseum ID723976
EmbARK ObjectID10734
TMS Source ID11
Last Updated11/6/24
Status
Not on viewWeb Commentary
This portrait of the artist’s mother, Eugénie-Désirée Fournier Manet (1811-1885), shows her in the widow’s black mourning dress she donned after her husband’s death. The brushwork throughout the painting is beautifully bold, displaying confidence and dynamism that speaks to quick work that was not always typical of Manet.
Archival evidence suggests the artist started this painting in the years following his extended 1863 wedding trip to the Netherlands. The pose and depiction of a powerful older woman in black recall Dutch portraiture.
Gardner was long interested in acquiring a portrait by Manet, and through her advisor Bernard Berenson purchased this work in 1910. Berenson called it "a colossal thing" and suggested Gardner hang it alongside her portraits by Pollaiuolo and Degas, to create a "trinity of great paintings that are tremendous character studies as well."
BibliographyNotesCatalogue es Tableaux de M. Édouard Manet exposés Avenue De l'Alma en 1867. Exh. cat. (Paris: Avenue De l'Alma, 1867), p. 11. no. 14.
Theodoré Duret. Histoire d'Édouard Manet et de son oeuvre (Paris, 1902), no. 124. (as 1869-1870)
André Chatté. "Notes sur Manet." Le Journal des Curieux (Paris, 10 Mar. 1907), pp. 5-7, no. 1. (publishes an abbreviated form of a manuscript by Léon Leenhoff, now housed in the Pierpont Morgan Library, Tabarant archive)
The Nation (New York, 25 Mar. 1909), p. 313. (discusses the painting's exhibition at the International Exhibition at White City; a copy was sent to Isabella Gardner by Bernard Berenson on 10 April 1909)
Morris Carter. Isabella Stewart Gardner and Fenway Court (Boston, 1925; Reprint, Boston, 1972), pp. 233-34.
E. Moreau-Nélaton. Manet raconté par lui-même, vol. 1 (Paris, 1926), no. 89. (as 1866)
Albert Flament. La Vie de Manet (Paris, 1928), p. 243. (as 1866)
Philip Hendy. Catalogue of Exhibited Paintings and Drawings (Boston, 1931), p. 223-25, ill. (as an early painting by Manet)
Adolphe Tabarant. Manet, Histoire catalographique (1931), p. 109, no. 68.
Paul Jamot et al. Manet. Exh. cat. (Paris: Ércole des Beaux-arts, 1932), no. 134. (as 1866)
Gilbert Wendel Longstreet and Morris Carter. General Catalogue (Boston, 1935), p. 25. (as 1869-1870)
Adolphe Tabarant. Manet et ses oeuvres (1947), p. 79. (as date uncertain)
Richard T. Dickinson. "Degas' Madame Gaujelin." Fenway Court (Dec. 1967), pp. 57-61, ill. (as 1869)
Sandra Orienti. The Complete Paintings of Manet (New York, 1970), p. 126, no. 63. (as 1863)
Rollin van N. Hadley et al. "Berenson and Mrs. Gardner: The Museum Years." Fenway Court (1974), p. 8.
Philip Hendy. European and American Paintings in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston, 1974), pp. 150-52, pl. 37. (as after Manet's visit to Madrid in 1865)
Rouart et al. Edouard Manet: Catalogue raisonné, vol. 1 (Paris, 1975), pp. 70-71, no. 62. (as 1862)
Deborah Gribbon. "Mrs. Gardner's Modern Art" in James Thomas Herbert Baily (ed.). The Connoisseur: An Illustrated Magazine for Collectors, "Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum" (London, 1978), p. 17, fig. 7. (as perhaps 1862/3)
Rollin van N. Hadley (ed.). The Letters of Bernard Berenson and Isabella Stewart Gardner 1887-1924 (Boston, 1987), pp. 440-49, 453-57, 460-61.
Nancy Locke. "New documentary information on Manet's 'Portrait of the artist's parents.'" The Burlington Magazine for Conoisseurs (1991), p. 250, fig. 27. (as about 1863)
Richard Lingner in Alan Chong et al. (eds.) Eye of the Beholder: Masterpieces from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston, 2003), p. 192-93, ill. (as the year after Auguste Manet's death, 1863)
Manuela Mena (ed.). Manet en el Pardo. Exh. cat. (Madrid: Museo del Prado, 2003), pp. 153, 155, ill. (as 1863)
Jane Munro. Degas: A Passion for Perfection, Exh. cat. (Cambridge, England: The Fitzwilliam Museum, 2017), p. 60, fig. 46.
Nathaniel Silver, "Isabella and the Hispanic Society," Inside the Collection (blog), Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 13 October 2020, https://www.gardnermuseum.org/blog/isabella-and-hispanic-society
Laurence Des Cars, Stephane Guegan, and Isolde Pludermacher. Manet Degas. Exh. cat. ( Paris: musee d'Orsay, and New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2023). p. 33, no. 22.
Diana Seave Greenwald (ed.). Manet: A Model Family, Exh. cat. (Boston: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 2024), pp. 2, 35, 36, 88, 89-97, 94, 132, 133-36, 135, 136, 145, no. 1, ill.
Nancy Locke, "Manet's Mother," Inside the Collection (blog), Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 1 October 2024, https://www.gardnermuseum.org/blog/manets-mother
Theodoré Duret. Histoire d'Édouard Manet et de son oeuvre (Paris, 1902), no. 124. (as 1869-1870)
André Chatté. "Notes sur Manet." Le Journal des Curieux (Paris, 10 Mar. 1907), pp. 5-7, no. 1. (publishes an abbreviated form of a manuscript by Léon Leenhoff, now housed in the Pierpont Morgan Library, Tabarant archive)
The Nation (New York, 25 Mar. 1909), p. 313. (discusses the painting's exhibition at the International Exhibition at White City; a copy was sent to Isabella Gardner by Bernard Berenson on 10 April 1909)
Morris Carter. Isabella Stewart Gardner and Fenway Court (Boston, 1925; Reprint, Boston, 1972), pp. 233-34.
E. Moreau-Nélaton. Manet raconté par lui-même, vol. 1 (Paris, 1926), no. 89. (as 1866)
Albert Flament. La Vie de Manet (Paris, 1928), p. 243. (as 1866)
Philip Hendy. Catalogue of Exhibited Paintings and Drawings (Boston, 1931), p. 223-25, ill. (as an early painting by Manet)
Adolphe Tabarant. Manet, Histoire catalographique (1931), p. 109, no. 68.
Paul Jamot et al. Manet. Exh. cat. (Paris: Ércole des Beaux-arts, 1932), no. 134. (as 1866)
Gilbert Wendel Longstreet and Morris Carter. General Catalogue (Boston, 1935), p. 25. (as 1869-1870)
Adolphe Tabarant. Manet et ses oeuvres (1947), p. 79. (as date uncertain)
Richard T. Dickinson. "Degas' Madame Gaujelin." Fenway Court (Dec. 1967), pp. 57-61, ill. (as 1869)
Sandra Orienti. The Complete Paintings of Manet (New York, 1970), p. 126, no. 63. (as 1863)
Rollin van N. Hadley et al. "Berenson and Mrs. Gardner: The Museum Years." Fenway Court (1974), p. 8.
Philip Hendy. European and American Paintings in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston, 1974), pp. 150-52, pl. 37. (as after Manet's visit to Madrid in 1865)
Rouart et al. Edouard Manet: Catalogue raisonné, vol. 1 (Paris, 1975), pp. 70-71, no. 62. (as 1862)
Deborah Gribbon. "Mrs. Gardner's Modern Art" in James Thomas Herbert Baily (ed.). The Connoisseur: An Illustrated Magazine for Collectors, "Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum" (London, 1978), p. 17, fig. 7. (as perhaps 1862/3)
Rollin van N. Hadley (ed.). The Letters of Bernard Berenson and Isabella Stewart Gardner 1887-1924 (Boston, 1987), pp. 440-49, 453-57, 460-61.
Nancy Locke. "New documentary information on Manet's 'Portrait of the artist's parents.'" The Burlington Magazine for Conoisseurs (1991), p. 250, fig. 27. (as about 1863)
Richard Lingner in Alan Chong et al. (eds.) Eye of the Beholder: Masterpieces from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston, 2003), p. 192-93, ill. (as the year after Auguste Manet's death, 1863)
Manuela Mena (ed.). Manet en el Pardo. Exh. cat. (Madrid: Museo del Prado, 2003), pp. 153, 155, ill. (as 1863)
Jane Munro. Degas: A Passion for Perfection, Exh. cat. (Cambridge, England: The Fitzwilliam Museum, 2017), p. 60, fig. 46.
Nathaniel Silver, "Isabella and the Hispanic Society," Inside the Collection (blog), Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 13 October 2020, https://www.gardnermuseum.org/blog/isabella-and-hispanic-society
Laurence Des Cars, Stephane Guegan, and Isolde Pludermacher. Manet Degas. Exh. cat. ( Paris: musee d'Orsay, and New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2023). p. 33, no. 22.
Diana Seave Greenwald (ed.). Manet: A Model Family, Exh. cat. (Boston: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 2024), pp. 2, 35, 36, 88, 89-97, 94, 132, 133-36, 135, 136, 145, no. 1, ill.
Nancy Locke, "Manet's Mother," Inside the Collection (blog), Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 1 October 2024, https://www.gardnermuseum.org/blog/manets-mother
MarksNotesInscribed (lower right corner): Manet
Inscribed (a label affixed to the frame): Exposition de Londres Nom Leenhoff
Inscribed (a label affixed to the frame): Exposition de Londres Nom Leenhoff
ProvenanceNotesCollection of the sitter Madame Auguste Manet (Eugénie-Désirée Fournier, 1811-1895), mother of the artist Edouard Manet (1832-1883).
Exhibited in Paris at the Avenue De l'Alma, 1867.
Presumably bequeathed to Madame Manet's grandson, the French stockbroker and musician Léon Koella-Leenhoff (1852-1927), in 1895. Certainly in his collection by 1902.
Purchased by a certain Mr. Thompson, London at the "Fair Women" exhibition of the International Society of Sculptors, Painters, and Gravers from Léon Koella-Leenhoff for 90,000 francs in 1909.
Purchased by the art dealer Wallis & Son (The French Gallery), London by April 1909.
Purchased by Isabella Stewart Gardner from Wallis & Son, London for £5,000 on 2 May 1910, through the American art historian Bernard Berenson (1865-1959).
Exhibited in Paris at the Avenue De l'Alma, 1867.
Presumably bequeathed to Madame Manet's grandson, the French stockbroker and musician Léon Koella-Leenhoff (1852-1927), in 1895. Certainly in his collection by 1902.
Purchased by a certain Mr. Thompson, London at the "Fair Women" exhibition of the International Society of Sculptors, Painters, and Gravers from Léon Koella-Leenhoff for 90,000 francs in 1909.
Purchased by the art dealer Wallis & Son (The French Gallery), London by April 1909.
Purchased by Isabella Stewart Gardner from Wallis & Son, London for £5,000 on 2 May 1910, through the American art historian Bernard Berenson (1865-1959).
